Maverick Mecha Online
by thedgdragonfly
Summary: On January 1st, 2050, 5 million people become trapped in the virtual world created by computer genius, Kirigaya Kazuo, son of Kirito and Asuna. In order to be set free, they must defeat Kazuo and conquer this world within the next 10 years. In this difficult battle across the real world and virtual reality, The Star of Seven must win wars using giant fighting robots called Mecha...
1. Butterfly

The spacious living room of the large house thudded loudly at the sound of footsteps running back and forth frantically, preparing for what was to soon come.

"Countdown's starting!"

"Isn't Yurishizu here yet?"

"Let her be—she said she had something to do."

Below all the ruckus in the basement was a white-haired girl, isolating herself in a large room with various computers and wires sprawled everywhere. In her hands was a white helmet, which she balanced carefully in her thin, pale fingers for a brief moment. Its name, _AutoClear,_ was imprinted in a small black font on the right side of the helmet.

"Ten!"

"But don't you think we she call her though?"

Yurishizu took a deep breath and put it over her head. Who cared if she missed the countdown to end the first half of the century? It was just a number, after all.

"Nine!"

"Like I said—let her be. Onee-san doesn't care much for these things anyways."

"Eight!"

"Where is she?"

"Seven!"

"Probably in the basement."

"Six!"

"Isn't your older sister super hot, Chou?"

"Five!"

"She is! I saw her once last year!"

"Four!"

"Guys… shut up."

"Three!"

"Yeah, way to start off the new year you idiots."

"Two!"

"Not yet! There's still a second left!"

"One!"

Yurishizu closed her light-yellow eyes, letting the darkness engulf her. Then, a flash of white burst onto the screen with a series of logins and passwords milling about. She could feel her clothes disappearing, soon being replaced by a white blouse with a black skirt and black boots. Her hair was tied into a loose braid, and her bangs were clipped to the side by a pretty turquoise flower.

She heard one last thing before the system completely overtook her senses.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Yellow eyes flashed open. "Login complete. Link start!"

The musty smell of her large basement at home was soon replaced by the smell of the salty sea. Cheers to celebrate the new year were soon silenced by the seagulls circling the large harbours of the megacity, Porthaven. Giant buildings seemed to touch the sky, and small ships roamed the straights.

What caught her eye wasn't the vast landscape, however. Tiny black dots raced in the sky off towards the distance. From the sea it may have looked like a giant bird, but if one ventured closer to it…

Robots. Called 'Mechas' in this world, were the primary source of fighting and travelling. People often attempted to venture far with them but soon ended up coming back to Porthaven for various reasons.

The logo of the game, _Maverick Mecha Online,_ often abbreviated to Machaon (MaChaOn), flashed in the sky before her. A female voice echoed far off into the distance.

"Welcome to: Maverick Mecha Online, Hanamura Yurishizu. Current status: level twelve. Current location: floor one, Village of Beginnings: Porthaven. Day two-hundred and eight of playing."

The screen turned into darkness once more for a brief moment, but soon switched off into her in-game home.

It was a two-floored apartment, decorated with many furniture to make the place seem cozy and warm. The TV and sofa set were in the centre of the living room, and two stairs above it led to the spacious kitchen and large table, even when she was the only person living here. There were seven rooms in total, one on the first floor and the remaining six upstairs, completed with five bathrooms and a wide balcony.

The apartment costed a fortune, but she was one of the better-off characters in Machaon—with the ridiculous price of having to buy parts for the Mechas to maintaining a home, most players found it difficult to earn any sum of decent money—but Yurishizu was doing well. It was equally hard to level up in this world, but she'd managed to reach level twelve by spending two years in the game.

Today was the second anniversary of Machaon, and there had been a special announcement that all the players logging in on January 1st, 2050 within the first minute of the New Year in GMT +9 would receive a special gift. This was the first of some sort of event in this world—there wasn't anything like this on its launch date nor in 2049. She expected there to be quite a crowd in Porthaven.

Indeed, when she opened her apartment door to lean on the balcony, the normal buzz of the town was amplified by quite a bit. She could see the plaza far off into the distance where a timer hovered in the sky, counting down the last few seconds before the end of the minute.

"Login will be temporarily shutting down in twenty seconds," a voice rang. Yurishizu nodded in understanding. Perhaps they'd let people log in once more after the secret gift had been handed out.

The white-haired girl debated on what to do after the event ended. Once she got her secret item, she'd probably return to the real world where she'd spend the rest of the New Years with her younger brother, Chou, and his friends. Even though she loved video games, there wasn't anyone she loved more than her younger brother. Shaggy light-brown hair with yellow eyes that were shades darker than her own lemon chiffon ones with the mildest and sweetest personality she'd ever seen, Chou was popular amongst many people, unlike herself who was on the borderline of antisocial and cold. Chou worried about her a good bit even though he was only fourteen—four years younger than she was.

 _Chou's fine… his friends, however…_ Yurishizu sighed. Maybe going home right away wasn't so great of an idea. She'd stay on Machaon for a few more hours—play with some robotics parts a bit at the warehouse down at the port, and maybe fly her new Mecha for a few test runs…

"Login has been shut down. Commence The Bloody Half-Century event."

Yurishizu looked up to the clock in surprise. _The Bloody Half-Century event? That's a weird name…_

A screen suddenly popped in front of her; it was a close-up of the clock in the plaza. Just when she was about to wonder why it appeared, a huge gust of wind blew across the entire town, almost sending her flying. She attempted to shield her face from any incoming debris, but soon realized that she didn't have to, because everything had been completely frozen.

A pair of seagulls in the sky were still, in the middle of flapping, and the petals of a flower that should've whipped past her stood frozen midair in front of her. She reached out in an attempt to touch it, when the world suddenly flickered into a dark red.

"Welcome, players of Maverick Mecha Online," a male voice said. She looked around to find the source of the voice, but with no avail.

The clock in the centre of the plaza disappeared with a bit of static and instead, changed to show the bottom half of the face of a man.

"I am the creator of this world, Kirigaya Kazuo."

The world stared at their screens in awe—this was _the_ Kirigaya Kazuo, the man who'd never stepped in front of a camera in all his life despite being hailed as the world's greatest programer who'd managed to rack up a fortune when he was just a small child.

"We will begin today's special event—one I'd like to call 'The Bloody Half-Century'. I'd also like to thank each and every one of you for buying this dumb game, and trapping yourself into this stupid world when you should know how dangerous it is."

Yurishizu raised an eyebrow. Did he just call his own game and systems _dumb_? She felt slightly offended—even with her prodigal engineering skills, she'd never been successful in recreating a AutoClear nor a HIT—a Human Implant Tracker, something the late Kirigaya Kazuto created before passing away.

Kazuo continued. "All gamers know of the iconic Sword Art Online incident back in 2022, no? It was the first game for the NerveGear, where it trapped 10,000 people and killed those who had their systems forcibly removed from them, or if they died in a game. Around four-thousand died, making it a 40% causality rate."

His mouth curled upwards into a sinister smile. "My father, The Hero, Kirigaya Kazuto loved games and was fascinated by them. He saved the new world of gaming multiple times—in Sword Art Online, Alfhiem Online, in Gun Gale online, and in Alicization. But the shock from these games soon killed him—my poor father and my mother, when they were young. So what did games leave me with? _Nothing._ And you… the 5 million idiots I've gathered will be the price to pay for them."

Yurishizu's thin fingers clasped around the balcony with such strength her hands start to shake. She'd seen videos of what happened with SAO—survivors attempted to recreate the entire incident, and many videos of it circulated the web these days. Would Kirigaya Kazuo… really attempt to copy the crime?

"Maverick Mecha Online…" he started again. "Many of you are probably wondering why it's so hard to gain money and level up, or what the entire point of Mechas are. That's because you see, the part-time jobs you work in this world aren't supposed to let you raise huge amounts of money, nor are Mechas supposed to be used for 1vs1 duels. No… this world is a _battlefield_. I will tell you what the entire point of playing Machaon was supposed to be about."

The endless crowd at the plaza murmured amongst themselves in fear. Could the AutoClear kill them? But they made sure after the SAO incident that you wouldn't be able to kill people, right?

"Ten years."

His voice caught the attention of everyone standing in the plaza.

"I will give you ten years to conquer this world. My forces currently dominate the vast majority of this world. Your duty is to defeat my empire within ten years. Although I have many foot soldiers, there are also capable pilots that are able to fly the Mecha."

 _Ten years?_ Yurishizu thought to herself. _How big is_ _this world if we need ten years?!_

"If nobody is able to kill me within the next ten years, I will kill you using the HIT implant in your real bodies. And not just you—your friends, family, and everyone that's dear to you."

The plaza was completely silent for a moment. A scream could be heard off in the distance, starting a domino affect.

"Are you _kidding me?!_ "

"Ten years?"

"I can't log off!"

"It's like the Sword Art Online incident…"

"So we have to somehow manage to kill this lunatic in ten years?"

"A Mecha War?"

"Momma, I'm so scared…"

Yurishizu's eyes widened. Unlike SAO, which had been dominated by diehard gamers or beta testers, Machaon was widely popular with people of all ages—young, old, novice, and experienced. And after two years of gathering critical acclaim, Machaon had a daily use of around 4.5 million players. Most people did not play games on New Years, but Kazuo's lure with the 'secret event' had managed to get 5 million people online.

"Let me summarize," said the programmer. "In the case where the AutoClear is forcibly removed from your body, you will die. In the case where you die within the game, you will be sent back into the real world without your memories. In the case where you don't complete the game within ten years of today or everyone dies, I'll kill you and everyone important to you. The HIT chip will kill the user if it is surgically removed starting from today. The goal of this game is to conquer the world with whatever method you so desire. Each floor has an empire under siege. On the hundredth floor, I will be commanding. If even one person can kill me, the game is over and I'll set everyone free."

 _This can't be happening…_

Another screen appeared beneath the hologram—a set of numbers. 4,999,763.

"237 people have either died or lost their memories," he whispered. "You can choose to attack on your own, or you can team up and create your own army. I don't really care," he said. Another sinister grin appeared. "But just to make up for the next few years of your life, I'll let you have a one-minute video chat with your loved one. Have a happy new year, and see you within the next decade!"

With a wave of his hand, the image disappeared, and the clock came back, signalling 12:08.

Seven minutes.

Kirigaya Kazuo changed the lives of _five million people_ within seven minutes.

The screen in front of her suddenly flickered onto her living room where her younger brother, Chou, sat with four of his friends. Potato chips were everywhere, and plates of cake were sprawled on the plush carpet. Party streamers hung on the clothes of the five boys, as well as all the furniture of their home.

Chou recognized her first.

"Onee-san?!" He exclaimed. "Guys! My sister's on TV for some reason…"

It took Yurishizu a moment to realize that she was being broadcasted right now, most likely only to her television. Everything, whether it be microchip implants, to gaming systems, to TV's and phones were connected these days. She wouldn't be surprised if Kazuo somehow managed to connect Machaon with her television.

"Chou!" She cried out. "Chou, can you hear me?"

Her younger brother blinked. "Uh… yes? Where are you right now? How can you see me?"

"Chou, listen," Yurishizu said, blinking back tears. "There's been a copycat crime, close to one of SAO. I only have a minute to talk to you so I won't explain everything, but if you remove the AutoClear of somebody's head, they die. If we die in this world, however, we can wake up but we lose our memories. I know it's a lot to take in, but there's probably going to be lots of press cover on this so I won't go into details. But Chou—I might be stuck here for a while. I don't know how many years, but if we don't finish this game within ten years, the microchip inside of us will kill us _all_. And don't try to surgically remove the HIT Chip either—Kazuo warned us that it would be futile. And—and I have so many things to say but I don't know what—"

"Wait, hold on onee-san, this doesn't make any sense! Slow down."

"Chou, I love you and I'm so sorry that I may not ever be able to say this again. I'm so sorry that I won't be able to watch you grow up and take care of you, and I'm also sorry that you may be haunted by this for the rest of your life—"

"What are you _talking_ about, you have to explain!" he cried.

"I only have a minute with you left!" She exclaimed, tears finally streaming down her eyes. "Do you understand me Chou? I love you, and I'm sorry."

Her younger brother slowly reached forward towards the television. In the corner of both screens, they saw the last fifteen seconds ticking down.

"W-what am I supposed to say?!" He cried. "I love you too, onee-san, and don't be sorry because even though I don't really get it I know it's not your fault. Don't worry about me because I'll grow up just the way you would've wanted me to, and I'll wait for you no matter how many years it takes—"

"I'll only live on in your memories now," Yurishizu whispered, looking at the timer ticking down reproachfully. "Chou, I can't say it enough. I love you… I love you, I love you, I love you…"

"YURISHIZU!" Chou screamed, reaching forward, tears streaming from his eyes. The girl also extended a hand, but it was futile. Just as her hand touched the screen, it blackened out. The timer in the corner blinked '0'.

The exciting buzz of Porthaven that she heard not even ten minutes ago was replaced by sounds of people crying or moaning in anguish.

 _This can't be real… can it?_

—

Yurishizu changed into a baggy white shirt with black leggings. With a cup of coffee in her hands, she wandered over to her red velvet sofa and sat down, opening up the menu window.

The logout button had indeed, disappeared.

She pulled her white bangs back, chuckling softly at the ridiculousness of it all. It was the perfect copycat crime, and _five million people_ had fallen for Kirigaya Kazuo's trap. What had everyone been thinking… with the rapid growth of the electronic industry, it was getting harder and harder to completely secure virtual reality worlds, making it simultaneously easier for geniuses like Kazuo to bypass the systems. Even with the tragic endings of SAO, ALO, GGO, and Alicization, people still continued to risk their lives to play these games.

And now they'd have to pay for their ignorance.

The yellow-eyed girl didn't have the courage to go outside. Mobs were everywhere, and she wouldn't be surprised if people died tonight. Whether it be murder or suicide… the result was going to be the same anyway.

But then again, unlike SAO, Kazuo gave them a choice.

They could kill themselves and return to the real world or they could continue to fight for the next few years in an attempt to kill Kazuo. But 100 levels… somebody would have to do it.

Yurishizu was a closet gamer. In the real world she was known to be an ordinary office worker who overlooked sales and managed small mechanic businesses. She started working straight after high school—she saw no point in going to university when it was obvious her father recognized her prodigal talents—he would pass his company down to her if she proved herself worthy.. But she didn't miss her parents too much—they only saw her as a tool they could invest in anyways.

She often wondered how somebody like Chou ended up like the person he was today. Yurishizu was a copy of her parents—white hair from her mother, yellow eyes like her father, although hers were several shades lighter. She'd only met her mother a few times, and her father even less. When she was younger, nannies would baby her and Chou, but when the two entered high school, she'd refused and proceeded to live on her own with her younger brother. Often times she was regarded as cold, antisocial, and more often than not, in a foul mood. Chou was almost the opposite of her. He inherited his yellow eyes from his father, and light brown hair from his late mother, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Chou was warm and kind to everyone, and in a way, was naiive to the world casted upon him. He never bragged or used his wealth to higher his status unlike Yurishizu who worked herself to death to impress her parents. The girl could only guess that his sweet temper came from his mother who passed away before her father remarried her mother..

But years of hard work didn't matter now did it? Not when she was stuck in a _game_ for who-knows-how-long.

Yurishizu knew that it wasn't like her to step up—on the rare occasion that she did, it was only for her father's company, and that was only to impress him.

 _Mom, I'm so scared…_

It was different now. The lives of children were at risk. Somebody would have to do it.

Even if she wasn't going to be fighting in the front lines, she'd offer some assistance. Although she looked delicate for a woman who was around 5'6", she knew her engineering skills were a force to be reckoned. She could help out with creating new Mechas.

Setting the coffee down on the table, she opened the closet to get out a black trench coat, and long black boots. Putting them on silently, she opened the door to her apartment and peeked outside. The sky had turned into a dark mass of clouds, with snow gently falling down.

Some people remained at the plaza in awe. Off to the distance, a fire was brewing from an angry mob that had ransacked a fruit shop. She could hear the sounds of children crying, oddly reminding her of the way Chou used to when they were younger.

 _YURISHIZU!_

She'd never seen her younger brother like that. That desperate look in his eyes, with angry and upset tears all rolled into one. He must've felt so confused and helpless at the same time. Just thinking about it made tears well up in her own eyes. Before they could fall though, she wiped them off her sleeve. After taking a few deep breathes, she made her resolve.

It was time to go visit Dock Seven.

* * *

 **Ugh, okay before I begin my A/N I'd like to officially welcome you to my new FanFiction, _Maverick Mecha Online_. **

**I hate how this chapter turned out because it's my first time writing since summer break started and the rustiness is so obvious. The pace is wrong, the dialogue is wrong, and the grammar... but if you somehow managed to struggle through this, I applaud and thank you at the same time.**

 **I started rewatching SAO on a whim like, three days ago, and I've always hated the series due to its rushed pace. It saddened me because SAO truly was unique in its own right, and I felt that the author could've taken it on so many different levels but _didn't_. I'm going to try recreating the series with a whole new cast and setting, and I hope you'll stick around to reading it.**

 **Story Notes:  
-Machaon: pronounced Ma-ka-on  
-Yurishizu: comes from the Roman name Ulysses (inspired by the Ulysses butterfly)  
-Chou: Japanese name meaning butterfly (yes, I know that it's feminine)  
-Kirigaya Kazuo: son of Kirigaya Kazuto and Yuuki Asuna  
-AutoClear: gaming system like NerveGear  
-HIT: Human Implant Tracker (groundbreaking form of technology created by Kirigaya Kazuto)  
-Kazuto and Asuna have both passed away  
-The Bloody Half Century is supposed to be a copycat crime of SAO with its own twist that I won't explain yet  
-Porthaven is a futuristic megacity that is sheltered between the sea and the mountains  
-Machaon was released on Jan 1st, 2048  
-Mecha are giant fighting robots one can build  
-5 million might be a bit excessive, but I got the number from Minecraft (1 million people/day not during peak season, multiplied by the idea that almost _everyone_ has an AutoClear in this future)**

 **Sorry for the long A/N. I have more to add on but they'll probably be explained as the story goes on, so I'll stop for the time being.**

 **-J**


	2. Leo of the Night

Porthaven was, as she remembered it, a beautiful town. On one side, the vast blue ocean stretched towards the sun while on the other side, valleys and mountains stretched so far she couldn't see the end of it. Porthaven also had two different types of docks. One was for ships, and the other was a series of giant garages where people made their own Mecha. It was such a long and complicated process that not many people were able to ever create a Mecha of their own. In Yurishizu's two years of playing Machaon, she'd only partially completed hers. She heard geniuses smarter than her had already completed their robots and had started 1vs1 duels for fun. The girl didn't think she'd be a good fighter, but she wanted to build a great Mecha to pilot one day.

There were hundreds of docks scattered across Porthaven, but she'd bought the dock furthest away from the village. It was the most isolated one, although several sheds like Dock 15, 9, 21, 5, 38, and 29 were still close to hers.

When she arrived at Dock Seven, a good hour had passed from the events of The Bloody Half-Century. Yurishizu raised an eyebrow when she spotted a crowd of people in front of her shed.

"Oh, Ageha-kun!" a voice addressed her. When she turned around at the call of her username, a small old man with greying hair and friendly blue eyes wobbled over to her. Yurishizu recognized him immediately—Mamoru of Dock 9 had formidable engineering skills that was almost on par with Yurishizu's. He was famous for completing over twenty small Mecha's.

"Mamoru-san," she nodded curtly. "What are all these people doing here?"

The old man sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "They're after our Mecha. Idiots believe that they can fly them when they probably don't even know how these monsters work. You better leave your Mecha in your inventory for now—dunno when they'll try and start robbing us."

Yurishizu rolled her eyes. "It's fine, I'll just work on my Mecha with the shed door closed."

"That's what most of us are doing right now," he chuckled. "Although most of the folks here are complaining that it's not fair how we know how to make Mecha and they don't…"

Yurishizu rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I don't care. Unlike them, we actually spend some time researching and making these. I'm not going to give them out for free."

"Tell them that," he laughed. "Anyway, are you sure you don't need any help? You could've finished your Mecha a long time ago if you had a team to help you."

"I'm fine," said Yurishizu, walking towards the dock where crowds of people looked at her in disgust. "I prefer working by myself."

A man grabbed her arm just as she was about to walk away.

"A girl like you knows how to make a Mecha?" he asked. Yurishizu gave him a bored look.

"What of it?"

"Give it to me. I'll fight. I could probably pilot it better than a girl like you anyways."

Yurishizu swiped her arm back rudely and gave him a glare. "Forget it. You probably don't even know the basics of how these Mecha's work. Every life matters from here on out—ordinary civilians shouldn't try to pilot things like Mechas. Stand back and watch—we'll take it over from here."

Just as she was about to stalk away, a high pitched scream made her freeze in her tracks.

"Doesn't the person who kills her get her items? Her Mecha must be in her inventory!"

"Get her!"

Yurishizu's eyes widened. There was no ways she could outrun all these people—especially in the snow where it was so slippery.

"Wait, let's talk about this—"

"DON'T LET HER ESCAPE!"

A group of men suddenly lunged for her—Yurizuru shielded her face with her arms, eyes squeezing shut in fear. Was she really going to die today? When the mission hadn't even started? She didn't want to forget Chou… and there were still so many things in her life she had left to complete.

"ARGH!"

Her eyes opened in surprise when she saw a person with medium-length black hair in front of her, holding a sheathed sword in front of him. He looked left and right with his bright blue eyes and hit the next attacker with the hilt of his sword.

His deep voice rumbled throughout the crowd, catching everyone's attention.

"Cease your anger," he snarled. "If we want to survive this game we can't afford to go around losing people like her. As long as she's alive, she can help us make Mecha."

"I don't think she will," A voice called out in the distance.

"That's only your assumption," he cooly replied, looking left and right for another attacker.

"Don't tell me—can you make Mecha as well?" someone else said. He shook his head, snow dusting off of his black hair. It reached down to his shoulder blades which was tied loosely by a white bandage. His attire was completely black—a turtleneck tank top with baggy pants and military boots. His mouth was covered by a thick black scarf that hung loosely around his broad shoulders.

"I'm just somebody with a bit more common sense," said his muffled voice. "These people are our greatest chance of survival—fighting amongst ourselves won't do any good. I'm sure we'll find a solution, so please work together."

The crowd looked dissatisfied, but seemed to quiet down somewhat. After the stern look of the mysterious saviour's life, most people began to leave—some more hesitant than others.

Mamoru sighed in relief when the last person had left. "Well, well young man, what do we have here? Thanks for that, I'm sure it took a lot of courage."

His eyes crinkled into a kind smile. "No worries, sire. I'm glad I could help out in these difficult times."

The old man chuckled. "Now Ageha, you should come thank him too—"

He turned around, with no sight of the white-haired girl. The two looked around frantically, trying to find her.

The mysterious man found her first—she was unlocking the door to her dock at the top of a long flight of stairs.

"Oi, oi," Mamoru sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sorry, she's a bit shy…"

"No worries, he assured the engineer. "Well then, I must be off."

With a polite bow of his head, he grabbed the rails of the stairs and climbed his way up like a monkey, entering the dock just before Yurishizu shut the door.

"Whoa there, little miss," he said, slipping in just in time. His next words were caught in his throat however, when he saw the wide space of the dock. It was empty, save for some tools that hung on the walls neatly. They were currently standing on a high balcony, but several flights of stairs led to the ground.

He smiled. "It's very nice."

Yurishizu ignored him. With a swipe of her hand, the inventory hovered in front of her, and after clicking a few buttons, a giant Mecha materialized in the wide space in front of them, filling up the entire shed.

With a flick of her hand, she also changed her clothes into navy-blue shorts and a simple black t-shirt. Her hair was tied up into a neat bun, with the blue flower still clipped in place. A set of goggles hung loosely around her neck. She also had a brown belt on with various tools hanging off of it.

"What do you want," she said, lying down on a wide skateboard. Pushing herself under the giant robot, a metallic _clang_ resonated the shed.

He leaned on the balcony, observing the huge robot carefully. The main body was white, save for its bright blue wings that were folded on its back. He could see that it was still missing a set of arms and legs.

Nodding in approval, he said: "A little lady like you can make Mecha, huh?"

 _BANG!_ "I'm not little."

 _I can see that._ The man eyed her long legs sticking out. Clearing his throat, he said: "What do you think about The Bloody Half Century Event?"

The whirring noise of the wires turning within the body of the giant robot grew louder and louder by the second. A bright light flashed near Yurishizu, and she wheeled herself out, porcelain skin and white hair covered by black oil.

"Ack," she groaned, wiping her mouth. "What was your question again?"

"What do you think about Kazuo's plan?"

"It's stupid?" said Yurishizu, rolling her eyes.

"How so?"

A thin eyebrow was raised suspiciously. "Why do you even care? Who are you?"

He leaped over the fence and landed nimbly in front of Yurishizu. Standing in front of her, she realized he was very tall—around half a foot, and she was 173cm herself.

Sticking a hand out casually, he said: "Leo. I'm an assassin."

She didn't bother shaking his hand—more so because her hands were covered with oil than anything else.

"Who the hell needs assassins in this world?" Yurishizu inquired, scoffing. Leo shrugged and pulled his mask down, revealing his face. He was handsome—mysterious black eyes that danced with mirth, shaggy black hair that was tied to the back by a thin white band, and a tall, pretty nose.

"I played Senbonzakura before transferring to Machaon." He scratched his head sheepishly. "It's my younger brother's game, actually. He's out at a friends house and asked me to get the special event gift for him instead, since I was at home with my friends. They're probably wondering what's happened by now. I hope nobody removes my AutoClear."

Yurishizu rolled her eyes. "Word's probably out by now. Who knows, maybe we're being transported into hospitals."

Leo shrugged. "Well, I was a pretty good commander in Senbonzakura–and I know a bit about fighting wars as well. You'd want somebody nimble enough to run back and forth for information. What about we team up?"

The white-haired girl crossed her arms, feeling suspicious. "Why me?"

"I've been eying you for a while now."

"Oh bother, a stalker," she said sarcastically.

"And there were rumours saying that a female engineer was attempting to build a 20-meter Mecha all by herself. Or at least, that's what my younger brother told me. When I asked him why that was so interesting, he said that the engineers in Machaon weren't actual engineers, and they were building robots by the book, so somebody like you must've been a _real_ engineer. Luckily, he told me which dock you were in, so I came to seek you for your assistance. Didn't expect you to be so young though."

"It could just be my avatar," she challenged. "I could be a 400-pound man with greying hair, spending the rest of his days in virtual reality."

Leo scoffed. "Please. My brother said he wished he could have an older sister as nice as you. Definitely did not sound like a man."

Yurishizu was surprised. "I've met your brother before?" She rarely interacted with people on Machaon, save for Mamoru and…

"Keiichi," she whispered. "Your younger brother was Keiichi?"

"You _do_ know him," Leo smiled. "He said that you once told him he reminded you of your younger brother."

 _Chou…_ The name brought a pang to her chest. How worried he must be right now…

"I have a younger brother too," she admitted. "Keiichi looked similar to him when he was younger."

Leo waited for her to continue, but her cunning yellow eyes seemed troubled. Yurishizu was worried—Chou was responsible, but it was mostly Yurishizu that had raised the young boy. Who'd do it in her steed? Her parents undoubtedly wouldn't care. Would they have even realized that she was gone?

"So," Leo cut into her train of thought. "Will you team up with me?"

She had no interest in fighting. She didn't want to be involved in a war. She was too weak to fight in hand-to-hand combat. The man in front of her though, was obviously ready to face off against Kazuo.

"Yes," she said. "I—I will team up with you."

Leo gave her a wide grin. "Great, I'll send you a party request."

A white screen appeared in front of her. _Leo has invited you to his party. Accept? Decline?_

She hesitantly clicked the accept button. _What does this mean? Am I really going to fight? I'm not the type of person to step up in these kinds of situations…_

"Great. I'm going to go home for the time being, but I'll message you later when I have the chance. It was nice meeting you, Ageha."

She nodded curtly and gave him a small wave. Leo's eyes crinkled in to crescents as he too, raised his hand to wave goodbye.

 _Keiichi you twerp._ Leo thought bemusedly. _You didn't tell me that this engineer was a beautiful lady._

* * *

Yurishizu placed her Mecha in the inventory and turned the lights off, preparing to close the shop down for today. A 20-meter class was difficult to make—its sheer size meant that she had to be strong enough to move everything around. More than once she'd accidentally hurt herself. Although the virtual world made it easy for her to recover, she couldn't rely on how safe Machaon was anymore.

Leo… Keiichi's older brother. She was now teammates with him, ready to fight in a war that may last the next ten years of their life. If Chou didn't exist, she wouldn't have a reason to live. Was Leo also fighting for his brother, or was he fighting just because it was _right?_

She changed her clothes once again to a long, black hoodie and white jeans. It was snowing outside, and undoubtedly cold. Virtual reality had come a long way since Sword Art Online. Emotions felt more realistic, sight and smell became better, and families could now actually get married and have a virtual child. It was a controversial topic for a long time, but Kirigaya Kazuo had made it work. He made _everything_ work when it came to virtual reality. But nobody expected the genius to plot something like this…

Water seeped into her black boots, freezing her toes. She hadn't bothered to buy transportation crystals—a costly mistake for her toes. Was it possible to catch a cold in Machaon? She'd have to wait to find out…

Porthaven was a disaster when she arrived. Some buildings were still on fire, garbage littered the floor, and a child was crying somewhere off in the distance. She hoped that her house wasn't broken into.

Luckily, her apartment was still intact, save for a house on the first floor. She slowly made her way up the stairs and opened the door to her house. Not bothering to take her shoes off, she sat down on her plush sofa and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted.

She needed to organize her thoughts a bit more. Her Mecha was almost complete—she'd completed putting the pieces together today, a process that took her around six hours. She still needed to work on the Mecha's legs though. She hadn't decided if she would somehow place wheels on them or even more guns if that was possible. Speaking of wars, she'd probably need to make an escape car within the Mecha in case things got ugly during the fight.

 _Do I even want to fight?_ Yurishizu frowned. _Maybe I'll give that Mecha to someone so they can fight instead. But this was my first project… kind of seems like a shame to pass it on without flying myself._

 _Was Leo an engineer as well? Didn't really seem like it. Would he fly my Mecha if I gave it to him?_

She rotated her body so that she was now lying down. _I've always been the type to be alone… but for some reason, I feel a bit more lonely today…_

Her yellow eyes closed as she tried to squash the emotions down. _Focus, Hanamura. What do you know so far? Kirigaya Kazuo created The Bloody Half Century event which is a copycat crime of SAO that happened back in 2022. But it's not a complete copycat. There's different things about it as well. If we die within the game, we can return to the real world in exchange for our memories. Ideally, I'd give them away and just return, but I think I'll stick around for a bit longer and see what happens first._

Were there problems to the event that she'd overlooked?

 _Five million people. Five million lives in attempt to kill one. Ten years. How many levels did Machaon have again? 100? But for the past two years, nobody could even reach level two. What does that mean? How do we reach Kazuo?_

 _War. Does that mean that Porthaven will have a war too? Is that what level one means?_

She jumped up from the sofa. _When? How? There's 5 million people here and nowhere to escape. How will we be able to protect the ones who can't fight…?_

A white screen popped up in front of her. _Leo has sent you a message._

 _"Hey."_ It read. _"Where are you right now?"_

Yurishizu raised an eyebrow. _"My apartment right across the town square."_

 _"Can you come down to Vialla Tavern?"_

Vialla Tavern? Wasn't that the one near the sea? If she took the underground tunnels, she could get there pretty quickly…

 _"Okay."_

She closed the window and prepared to go out, but another message from Leo stopped her.

 _"How are you getting there?"_

 _Why does it matter?_ Yurishizu thought, but typed: _"Using the underground road."_

 _"Be careful."_

Wasn't that a given? She rolled her eyes and closed the window again. After changing her shoes, she opened the door.

 **4,999,309**

The number that flicked in front of her slightly startled the girl—she'd forgotten that there was now a population counter right in the centre of the plaza.

691 people had died already. In comparison to the 5 million, it was only a small number, but after a bit of thought, she realized that these were _real_ people that have either really died or had lost their memories.

 _Almost 700…_ she sighed, and made her way down to the underground roads.

The stone walls made her footsteps echo, and the dark path in front her her was illuminated by the occasional lamp. She didn't really use the underground road much—only when the public roads were closed, so it was surprising to her when she saw the abundance of people huddled together in the normally abandoned path.

"We're going to _die_ …"

"Mommy, I'm hungry!"

"If there's a war, does that mean we're all going to die?"

"Let's hide here for the time being—the riots up above are too dangerous to get close to."

Yurishizu's eyebrows furrowed with worry. Why did this place seem no different from the real world? Where beggars and those without hope were always huddled together on abandoned roads, scrounging for something to cling to?

She took a few more turns. Most people were crying, and a few times she saw rowdy men get into fistfights, but for the most part, nobody had touched her.

"Hey lady,"

A tall, shirtless man had grabbed her arm. Yurishizu didn't need to look at him to know that he was strong.

"Ow, that _hurts_ —"

He smirked and drew her close. "What about teaming up with me? I can protect ya in exchange for a _small_ fee."

The man eyed her up and down, apparently liking what he saw, which Yurishizu didn't understand. The baggy hoodie she was wearing made her look like a black bear. Maybe her white hair stood out too much…

Without waiting for a reply, he dragged her closer.

"W-wait a second!"

"She's with me."

Another hand grabbed her other shoulder, more gently than the barbarian in front of her. She recognized the dark eyes of Leo which now looked at the perpetrator with a dangerous glint. The bottom half of his face was also covered by the baggy black scarf, covering his handsome face.

"What's it to you, kid?" The man asked, clearly not intimidated. Then, Leo pulled out a gun.

"Let her go or I'll blast your head."

His eyes widened in fear. Shoving Yurishizu away rather abruptly, he ran to the end of the corridor and took a sharp turn. The girl lost her balance but was caught just in time.

"Phew," the assassin smiled. "I told ya to be careful, didn't I?"

She pushed herself away and dusted her arms off. "Um—how did you know where I was?"

"Intuition. I was getting worried when I saw him walking around."

"Oh. You have good intuition then."

Leo gave her a cheeky grin. "Was that a compliment?"

She would've given him a sneaky retort if it wasn't for the pounding headache she felt. Ha. Virtual reality really _was_ getting more realistic, wasn't it?

Yurishizu shook her head and glanced at the flight of stairs in front of her. "That's the entrance to the Vialla, right? What'd you call me out for?"

Leo's friendly eyes suddenly vanished into more serious ones.

"We're going to decide if we want to be murderers."

* * *

 **No matter how many times I re-wrote the chapter I couldn't feel satisfied with it so I'm keeping it this way for now.**

 **So this is Leo of the Night. He's not an engineer but an assassin, and he comes from the game Senbonzakura. They've teamed up for now but with Yurishizu/Ageha's antisocial attitude, who knows how long they'll last?**

 **I've got the first ten chapters or so plotted out, but what do _you_ guys want to see in this story? I have a lot of interesting ideas I'm definitely going to use for this story but if there's anything you'd like to see in particular, shoot me a PM!**

 **~J**

 **Special thank** **s** **to:  
** **acciofandom  
Sane Light Aribeth  
Commando2341  
OtakuAnimeLover21  
**


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